>> glenn: we'll see you tomorrow. one you don't want to miss, food storage, how to prepare. and then relax. from new york, good night, america. >> bret: senate majority leader harry reid blocks a vote on banning earmarks. now what? plus lawmakers in the administration are going at it over the renewal of a nuclear treaty with russia. could indiana congressman mike pence have plans to swap the house of representatives for another house? live from our studio in washington, this is "special report." good evening. i'm bret baier, the house and senate waged very different battles today. one over leadership and the other over pork. but while republicans presented a mostly unified front, democratic infighting was a

consistent theme. chief political correspondent carl cameron takes a look at how things shook out. >> when the first post 2010 election votes began, senate majority leader harry reid refused to allow a vote on a bipartisan proposal to ban spending earmarks launched by okin republican tom coburn. >> there are certain people who have grown up on pork. they oink whenever they go back to the district and they talk about what they have done. >> the next chance to ban earmarks comes after thanksgiving. and there is mounting democratic interest. fox news has learned the two democratic co-sponsors mark of colorado and claire mccass skill of missouri have received inquiries in backing the ban. over in the house more democratic division. a third of democrats voted to postpone their leadership elections arguing that nancy pelosi should be replaced as their leader for aligning house democrats too closely with the obama administration's liberal agenda. >> i think the greatest failing in this congress was that the

house was basically acting as a -- it enabled the white house and the white house was not always right. >> but when the votes were cast, pelosi was named democratic leader with 150 votes. she tried to attribute electoral losses two weeks ago to the economy. >> 9.5% unemployment is a very tough screen to get through with any other message. >> but 43 democrats backed protest candidate heath shuler a north carolina moderate who deemed pelosi too extreme. >> there are more than just the blue dogs who have a concern with what is going on. and that message has been loud and clear. >> as expected, the number two job went to maryland democrat steny hoyer who was uncontested. pelosi created a new post of assistant leader to keep the dean of the congressional black caucus james clyburn at south carolina at her leadership table. among republicans on 61st birthday john boehner was recapped g.o.p. leader all but

making him speaker. eric cantor will be majority leader. kevin mccarthy will be the number three vote counting whip. two members of the incoming freshman class kristi noem and tim scott tapped as leaders to the leadership team. house and the senate republicans and democrats have leadership teams in place for next year. but this year they still have to pass legislation to keep the government operating and to deal with the expiration of the bush era tax cuts. there is no sign of any progress or any date to do that before thanksgiving. bret? >> bret: karl, so is this a major setback when it comes to the earmark ban and what does it mean for republicans who have been really trying to get this on the agenda? >> well, they are not going to give up. senator coburn says they will come back after thanksgiving and do it again and continue to do so over and over. their idea that the democrats are beginning to grow numbers put together more democrats who would support this. they believe as s. a clear signal that the earth is beginning to shift and perhaps, they hope, democrats are beginning to see it we will see

after thanksgiving. >> bret: there has been an awful lot of talk about compromise. on tax issue, carl, it seems all sides are going to corners. >> disincentive on both sides. the republicans don't feel the way they were treated during the obama administration last year there is a lot of incentive for them to cooperate. obama administration has been signaling they are willing to do something. they continue to say they don't want the tax cuts for the millionaires, meaning compromise remains out of each reach for now. >> bret: carl, thank you. this is a fox news alert. we have just received a verdict in the trial of former guantanamo detainee ahmed ghailani who was accused in joining in the plot of the 1988 bombing of the american embassies in tanzania and kenya. david lee miller is in new york with the very latest just coming. in david? >> bret, 285 counts. he was not guilty on all of those counts but for one of them ahmed ghailani found guilty on a single count that was a fifth

count of conspiracy charge to destroy government buildings and property of the united states. and that is a charge that carries a possible life sentence. a mandatory minimum of 20 years. now, the jury had deliberated at length today, especially after they were given some jury instructions from the judge. when the jury asked them a question yesterday to define what knowledge is required for a conspiracy, the judge had a hearing this morning. he then instructed the jury wide level of knowledge is required. the jury went back and resumed their deliberations. it's important to put this verdict in context. this is going to be a major blow and disappointment to the u.s. government. ghailani was the first former gitmo detainee to be tried in a civilian courtroom. the judge in this case bret, earlier had decided that one of the key government witnesses, a star witness would not be allowed to testify because the judge said his name surfaced because of coercive techniques

that were used to get that name from ghailani. so, whether or not that witness would have made a difference in that trial, no one will ever know, but it is clear this is a significant disappointment to the u.s. government. the sentencing is going to take place at a future date. ghailani, of course, is going to remain in u.s. custody. but, again, repeating, bret, he had been charged with 285 counts. 224 of them were murder charges in connection with the deaths of the victims who died in kenya and tanzania. he was acquitted of those charges, those most serious charges. found guilty of a single conspiracy. the conspiracy to destroy government buildings, bret? >> bret: david lee miller, live in new york. this is a major story with national implications. david lee, thank you. catherine herridge, national correspondent will join us at the bottom of the hour with a look at all of the implications here for the administration and what goes ahead with these trials of guantanamo bay detainees. we'll also talk about this with

the panel tonight. a major treaty between the united states and russia is going to require republicans and democrats here at home to work together. news correspondent steve sen centanni examines the state side what's overbroad. >> the congress entering final days, supporters of the strategic arms reduction treaty with russia turning up the heat on republicans who have so far blocked. >> not suggesting we should hit the pause button it is too difficult to do this treaty in a lame duck session. i strongly disagree. this is exactly what the american people expect us to do. to come together and do what is necessary to protect our country. >> the treaty signed last april in praagh by president obama and russian president dmitry medvedev would reduce nuclear arsenals in both countries by 20%. a previous treaty with with with

russia expired last december. >> for one year now we have had no inspections, no american boots on the ground in russia able to protect american interests. >> republican jon kyl of arizona is holding up the vote over concerns the u.s. nuclear arsenal first needs to be modernized. kyl says he doesn't think this can be resolved during the brief lame duck session given what he calls complex and unresolved issues surrounding the treaty. at least one republican, indiana senator richard lugar does support the treaty. >> we are talking today about the national security of the united states of america. >> but we're also talking about politics. when the new congress comes to town, democrats will hold fewer seats in the senate, making a vote for an obama priority that much more difficult. could kyl be running out the clock hoping to hand president obama a foreign policy defeat. >> senator kyl has a long track record of being very sincere and very studious in his thinking about nuclear issues and,

therefore, i do not suspect partisan intent. and i take him at his word that he simply needs more time to contemplate the issues. >> white house press secretary robert gibbs was asked today if democrats have the 67 votes needed to ratify the treaty during the lame duck session i said, quote, we think we do or we think we will get them. i think this is gonna be a test to the degree to which both sides can work together on things that are of common interest to the american people. >> even if star is not ratified experts point out it won't necessarily be critical to u.s.-russia regulations since the two sides agreed to sign it they can also agree to mutually abide by its terms. >> bret: made first appearance in court victor bout is accused of fueling some of the last decade's deadliest third world conflicts including charges he supported terrorists trying to overthrow the columbian government. the plans of the obama that administration and republican leaders to meet halfway has hit

a temporary snag. as white house correspondent wendell goler reports, the hopes of bipartisanship are still very much alive. >> it was a day of mixed messages from the white house, capitol hill in the business community on the prospect of bipartisanship in the second two years of the obama administration. white house press secretary robert gibbs says the last-minute delay of talks with republican congressional leaders on extending the bush administration tax cuts shows, quote: we have met the first test of being able to work together, bipartisanship has happened, he said. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell suggested he is eager to have the talks, now set for november 30th. >> i'm looking forward to the meeting and to the opportunity to share with the president, again, the areas where we agree. >> aides say the president told the president about the meeting the night of the election they won't say at what point after that the republicans said the date was problematic. negotiations would likely involve temporarily extending upper level tax cuts or raising the income level of the tax cuts

that are made permanent. democrats believe republicans may be bowing to the influence of tea party election winners like rand paul who says he won't compromise at all on the tax cuts. >> they have got to contend with the tea party, which has been more further to the right than maybe they expected. >> the tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year giving congress and the white house one month to reach a deal. meanwhile the chamber of commerce weighed in today on the new regulations and government agencies called for in the health care and finance industry reform laws. >> we have never seen anything of this scale before. it defies all logic and common sense. >> the group says the health reform law created 183 new agencies, commissions, and panels, financial regulatory reform it says has several hundred required rule-makings. the chamber spent more than $30 million on this year's congressional elections most of it aimed against democrats. after a speech donahue told reporters the group won't oppose

president obama's re-election. >> we are not seeking any activity that would limit the president's ability to advance his own re-election. >> back on the tax cut meeting, the white house says the delay only amounts to a couple of days since congress was always going to take thanksgiving week off. but it means the two parties will wait nearly a month after the election before trying to make sure that middle class tax rates don't go up. a situation here officials say nobody wants. bret? >> bret: wendell goler live on the north lawn. thank you. stocks were mixed today. the dow lost 15.5. the s&p gained quarter of a point. the nasdaq finished ahead 6 and change. could a u.n. resolution banning blasphemy actually restrict religious freedom? that's ahead on the grate grapevine. medicare's new chief says repealing the president's health care law could be descras instruments. republicans, as you might imagine, disagree.

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>> bret: president obama's health care law is already effecting seniors. the question is whether the impact is positive or negative. correspondent james rosen take as fair and balanced look. >> appearing before the senate finance committee, medicare chief donald berwick defended president obama's health care law saying it has already begun helping senior citizens. >> close to 2 million medicare beneficiaries fallen into the doughnut holes have received checks to help with prescription drug cost. >> one focused on the medicare advantage program which services an estimated 15 million people, nearly one quarter of all beneficiaries. the $36 billion and more than 7 million enrollees that the new health care law cuts from this program over the next decade. >> you are not strengthening medicare advantage. have you cut a lot of people out of medicare advantage. especially in rural america. >> normal turnover. >> that's not normal. >> committee democrats led the witness with questions designed to show the catastrophic

consequences that would ensue if the health care law were repealed. berwick said he couldn't think of a worse scenario for seniors. >> we tell them we are not going to improve access to preventative services like colonoscopy or monday moggography or extend the life fund's life by 12 years. it would be a terrible plan. >> a trained pediatrician and harvard professor berwick has expressed admiration to the u.k.'s nationalized healthcare system. republicans who abhor nationalized health care were furious when president obama prevented them from questioning the nominee under oath last july. >> you have one of the most important jobs in government today. that is why it is so disappointing that you were recess appointed without a hearing. >> you certainly had a choice to say no. the president of the united states asked me to serve to help my country get to the better healthcare system we all want and need. >> both centers bunning and hatch strongly advised berwick to be responsive to their questions going forward with

bunning even washing the medicare chief you are not going to get special treatment from the house next year. when that chamber is controlled by the republicans, bret. >> bret: all right, james. thank you. alaska senator lisa murkowski has become the first senate candidate in more than 50 years to win a write-in campaign after beating her tea party rival joe miller. murkowski has the lead of about 10,000 votes cliewrtding more than 8,000 that miller observers challenged over things like misspellings. today miller indicated he may want a recount. you can tune in tonight as senator murkowski goes "on the record" with greta van susteren. the list of the presidential medal of freedom recipients has just been released. former president george h.w. bush, german chancellor angela merkel and former alf afl-cio george sweeney will receive the medal of honor. is mike pence looking to change the house of representatives for the white house?

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>> bret: as a member of the house republican leadership indiana congressman mike pence was very visible in the g.o.p.'s successful effort to reclaim the house during the midterm elections. now that pence has stepped down from that post, there is speculation he may have his eye on taking back the white house. >> why am i not picked up like this all the time? >> bret: during the final push before the election earlier this month. >> i told phil my name son the side of this bus so obey all traffic laws. >> bret: indiana congressman mike pence spent three days lending support to mostly local candidates. busing around the hoosier state. [.

[ applause ] >> bret: since 2008 mike pence has been the g.o.p.'s chairman. the third ranking member in the house leadership. his main job prior to the election was keeping house republicans unified against congressional democrats and president obama. >> after a session of congress that saw every single house republican vote against the stimulus bill, every single house republican vote against their budgets. every single opposed to the government takeover of health care. republicans are back in the fight. we are back in the fight for fiscal discipline and reform. >> pence suggests the federal budget can be balanced not without cutting entitlement spending. >> when you talk fiscal discipline and reform, social security, medicare, that has to be on the table. it has been something that people haven't been willing to touch. >> right. >> bret: because of politics. now they will? >> well, i think the american

people know that we have to take decisive action to put our fiscal house in order. and that everything has to be on the table. but i think we can do it in a way that will both not be subject to the usual demagoguery of politics and also be broadly acceptable to the person -- american people. namely, for any american who is in retirement or in retirement we ought to promise the same deal they have been promised their whole life. for americans under the age of 40, we can give them a better deal. we can reform medicare and reform social security and give americans a whole generation of time to be prepared for those changes. >> bret: a former radio talk show host, pence is usually seen as a republican who can clearly stay on message. other times, his words have caused some trouble for the party. like on a trip to iraq in 2007 at the height of the war when the insurgency and the violence from it were at their worst.

>> i candidly was not prepared for -- to find a marketplace where thousands and thousands of iraqis were moving about in regular every day life like a normal outdoor market in indiana in the summertime. >> did do you ever think about t and say man, i wish i hadn't said that. >> you know, i don't spend a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror. but, you know, what i'm proud of was when john mccain and i became the first folks to go outside the wire, to go out there with our troops to walk with the iraqi people at the very beginning of the success of the surge. that's enormously satisfying to me. my ability to fumble the english language is not news to me. [ laughter ] >> bret: pence really finds his voice and most ardent supporters when he discusses social issues. >> we must demand here and now that the leaders of the

republican party stand for life, traditional marriage, and religious liberty without apology. [cheers and applause] >> bret: it's anances like this one in september at the conservative values voters summit in washington that have many wondering if pence might try to become the first sitting congressman elected president since james garfield in 180. in fact, pence won the summit's 2012 straw poll. >> are you considering a run? >> i have no plans to run for president in 2012. >> bret: you haven't ruled it out. >> it t. is what it is to be an american. for me and my house, we will continue to focus on the conservative values that carry us into public service. we will always ask the question where can we make the most difference for what's most important to us. we will let the future take care of itself. >> you have to have some people who feel intensely about you

because the early primaries and caucuses are all about intense public feelings and low turnouts. it's good for pence that the social values conservatives like him. >> mike pence on the ballot, would you support him. >> absolutely. >> what do you make of the tea party movement. >> they are looking for a generation of leaders washington, d.c. and rejected liberalism. >> bret: you think republican leadership gets it. >> i think house republicans get it. house republicans, i believe, in the last year and a half have returned to our roots. >> bret: are you distinguishing between senate republicans. >> i think house republicans get it. >> bret: okay. >> the opportunity for republicans in the house of representatives to provide that check on the big government liberalism of this administration is very real. >> bret: you would say that to mitch mcconnell as well? >> house republicans get it.

>> bret: pence easily won re-election on november 2nd as house republicans rode the tea party wave back into majority. >> one nation, under god. >> bret: then on november 3rd, pence announced he would not seek re-election to the republican leadership. the announcement sparked more speculation that pence is preparing to run for the white house in 2012. >> i will keep you posted. >> okay. that's what you told me in washington. [ laughter ] >> same answer. >> bret: next up in our 12 in 2012 series former arkansas governor mike huckabee thursday on "special report." and if you would like to see any of the 12 in 2012 pieces we have done so far, you can log on to our home page at foxnews.com/special report. while you are there, please vote in online poll, nonscientific, telling us of which our 12 in 2012 candidates that we have provide you prefer or others. we have a piece looking at other possible candidates friday and our one hour special airs this

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the guantanamo cases tells fox this is a s. clear lay blow for the department of justice and another setback for president obama and attorney general holder to try the 9/11 suspects in federal court. the ghailani case we have new cases show you now has often been described as a test case for the federal court system. ghailani is the first of the 14 high value detainees to be brought to the u.s. for a civilian trial. along with the 9/11 suspects, ghailani was held at the cia secret prisons and subjected to the enhanced interrogation program. in this particular case, at least one witness for the prosecution was thrown out because it was argued the witness was discovered through the cia interrogations. and those who support military commissions for the 9/11 suspects will now argue that if the department of justice cannot get a conviction on all charges for go lawn -- ghailani what can it hope for in the 9/11 case in the federal court. the 9/11 case has two important differences. number one the ghailani case did not seek the death penalty while

the 9/11 case surely would. and khalid sheikh mohammed was waterboarded in the cia program and, accord go ahead -- according to cia officials ghailani was not, shep. >> bret: last week the khalid shake mohammed trial is not coming to new york. you had republican leaders recently saying they are going to fund any efforts to bring detainees from gitmo to america for these trials. is this verdict now essentially the nail in the coffin on this effort by the administration? >> well, i would say now they there are really just two leading options that the administration has to choose between one is indefinite detention for the 9/11 suspects. though no trial in the immediate future or sending them back to the military commissions at guantanamo. just on a personal note, i think one of the greatest casualties here are some the 9/11 families who had adult children at the world trade center and also at the pentagon and in shanksville, pennsylvania. a number of them have told me that they believe that they will be dead before they ever see a full trial in this case and i would emphasize that it's been a year since the attorney

general's decision and right now no one is tried with the deaths of 3,000 americans. nobody, not here in the united states, or at guantanamo bay. >> bret: amazing. catherine, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> bret: and now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. while many americans are very concerned about making ends meet, members of congress saw their personal wealth collectively rise more than 16% between 2008 and 2009 the nonpartisan center for responsive politics has a new study on financial disclosures showing nearly half of house lawmakers, 261 are millionaires. a slight increase from the previous year of those congressional millionaires 55 have average wealth of $10 million or more. with 8 in the 100-million-dollar plus rake. in 2009 the median range was

$765,000. increase of 120,000 compared to the previous year. median wealth for senators stood at nearly $2.38 million. up about 100 grand from 2008. religious freedom advocates here in the u.s. are urging united nations members to vote against a defamation of religions resolution backed by islamic countries. critics worry the proposal does more harm than good and actually restricts religious freedom and leads to violence. a bipartisan letter signed by 42 members of congress urges 150 heads of state to vote no. catholic league president bill donohue says, quote. these muslim nations already kill christians and jews with impunity. they don't need any further encouragement to bring their idea of justice to the shores of other nations. well, tuesday we showed you russian prime minister vladimir putin cuddling with his new sheep dog puppy. now he has asked russians to help him come up with a name for that puppy. former president george w. bush,

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>> bret: just moments ago ahmed ghailani, the first guantanamo detainee to face a civilian trial in federal court in new york was acquitted of most of the charges. in fact, cleared of 284 other

counts. he was found guilty wednesday, today, of conspiracy to destroy buildings and u.s. property and tied to the attacks and destruction on two u.s. embassies in after africa in 19. the fact that he was acquitted of 284 counts, the terrorism charges is a major setback for the obama administration as it tries to move forward with plans to try the 9/11 terrorism suspects and detapeees being held in gitmo in civilian court. so what about this now? let's bring in our panel. steve hayes senior writer for "the weekly standard" henderson for the "the washington post" and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. charles? >> this is a huge elm bare -- embarrassment to the administration and is a blow to having the tears tried in civilian court. this is a guy involved in a plot and his defense was that he was an errand boy. he was a dupe. he had no idea what was happening. but that was undermined by the

one count on which the jury found him guilty, which was conspiracy. conspiracy as the judge explained explicitly, he was asked to come in and explain the law. conspiracy is defined as knowingly, willingly, being part of a plot. so obviously he knew he was involved in a plot which undermines the entire defense. and, yet, he is acquitted on 280-plus charges. what this demonstrates is two things. number one, in principle, we should never have these people who are acting as illegal combatants in a war against the united states, a jihad that osama bin laden had declared openly in 1998 to kill americans everywhere in the world ought not be treated like ordinary americans who have these high protections under the constitution. and, secondly, we see that when you do this in practice, there was a very important witness who was not allowed to testify. he would have said that he sold

the tnt to the defendant. he couldn't because of the rules of evidence. practically speaking, it undermines these prosecutions and we end up with this huge embarrassing setback. >> bret: this comes, of course, arrests the administration is saying that it's getting ready, the attorney general eric holder saying getting ready to say what's going to hand to khalid sheikh mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11. the thought was that potentially he could be tried in civilian court. senator chuck schumer from new york says it's not going to happen in new york last week. what does happen now? >> well, that looks -- i mean, it looks like schumer is right on this and that khalid sheikh mohammed probably will remain indefinitefully military detention here. this is obviously a huge blow to the obama administration. it's also a huge blow to eric holder. you wonder now if the clock on his time at the justice department is ticking in that, you know, here is our administration in the middle of all sorts of changes.

internally at the white house, but you wonder if this gives them a chance to really turn the page from a lot of setbacks that they have had over the past years. >> bret: what does the left do to all of this? calling for the civilian trials? calling for guantanamo bay to be closed? >> well, i mean this will be -- i mean this will really confirm the right position which said this is a real danger to put these guys in civilian courts and really afford them some of the laws and protections that americans have. but i mean i think even the left has in some ways tired of eric holder, at least, for different reasons but you saw there has been a profile in gq mother -- jones said maybe it's time for eric holder to resign. >> if we had ever held him without trial this would have been a problem. the information we obtained in his enhanced interrogation would have never been the so-called fruit that poisoned the tree. they will say we should have gone directly to trial. intelligence that we obtained from him be damned. but i think it's really

important to spend just a minute on who exactly this guy is. this is a huge, huge deal. people need to understand this. a cia document from june 3rd, 2005, said that he had provided new insights into al qaeda skills and networks. he was a top document forger since the 9/11 attacks. has reported on how he had forged passports with whom he displid them to the obama administration itself said the defendant was a, quote, rare find. and his then recent interaction with top level al qaeda terrorists made him extraordinarily valuable. he was a big deal. but also, if you look at the evidence that was presented in this case, he was found with detonator in his possession. he was connected directly to the truck in tanzania that blew up the embassy. his cell phone had been used by one ever the suicide bombers to make a flurry of calls before the attacks. >> bret: this is evidence in the case. >> this is evidence in the case. as charles points out, there was one particular key witness who had sold him the tnt.

now ghailani's defense, he admitted in his combatant status review tribunal, he said yes, i bought this, but i thought it was soap for washing horses. >> bret: charles, what's stunning and what catherine herridge has reported for weeks and going on months is that as we sit here right now, no 9/11 suspect is officially charged because the military commissions were essentially disbanded down in gitmo. now there is no one who who stands charged of killing 3,000 americans. >> it's the classic example of obama who comes in to reinvent the world. we already had the military system in place. it was slow. it was new so it took a long time to get it going. khalid sheikh mohammed would have been subject to it he asked for a guilty verdict in advance. he asked to be executed. and obama steps in, holder steps in and says oh no, we are going to reinvent the wheel. we're going to put you in new

york. of course that's never going to happen. the fall back is indefinite detention which i have no argument with, but if you could also have a military trial and you find him guilty, you ought to do it. it all there and these people decided they are all wise, owe omniscient. this is a calamity. >> bret: gitmo stays open. >> it stays open for sure. i think they are going to have to resort to the military commissions. >> yeah, i agree with charles. >> yeah, if not gitmo then somewhere else. i think it's more likely than not that gitmo stays open and we go back to commissions. >> bret: not the end of this story. when the panel returns, we will talk about what looks like a major set back for the president's nuclear arms treaty with russia. in the meantime visit the show notes section of our home page at foxnews.com/"special report" for the latest on this issue. condensed soups.

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>> it was almost suggested we should hit the pause button, that it is too difficult to do this treaty in a lame duck session. i strongly disagree. this is exactly what the american people expect us to do. to come together and do what is necessary to protect our country. we can and we must go forward now on the new start treaty. >> bret: the stark treaty, the nuke war reduction treaty with russia that was signed with obama and russian president medvedev in april would reduce nuclear are arsenals in both countries by 20%. the issue is the treaty has to be ratified by the u.s. senate. some republicans, including senator jon kyl from arizona are standing in the way so far. kyl relied a statement saying quote when majority leader harry

reid asked me if i thought the treaty could be considered in a lame duck session i relied did i not think so given the combination of the other work congress must do and the unresolved and issues related to the start and modernization. i appreciate the recent effort and the administration to address some of the issues that we have raised and i look forward to continuing to work with senator john kerry, the department of defense and department of energy officials. where are we on this and how big of a set back is it? back with the panel. >> hillary clinton talked about the pause button and they want to get back to the re-set button sometimes it wants to you reach for the mute button. >> bret: that was good. >> probably too hard. the real problem fundamentally they are trying to squeeze in too much. all of the sudden in the lame duck session the administration's top priority. i think that has to do in part what the president was saying overseas last week and what he hopes to be saying in lisbon this coming weekend, talking about the fact that start is

going to be ratified, that he said it is going to be ratified. there are a lot of things that the senate has to do that congress has to do. there is not a lot of time to do them. chief among them is our tax cuts. there is also unemployment insurance. there are a series of things that need to get done. this is now a priority for the president. republicans are saying why wasn't this a priority earlier? >> bret: we have had analysts look at this and senator kyl, they believe, michael hand loan among others is not playing a partisan game here. he does have concerns about the complexity of this treaty going forward. what about this standoff that we are seeing, nia? >> in some ways the republicans this week very much about the republicans flexing their muscle. they won. and you have seen them this week, for instance, you know, kind of say we're going to push back this meeting that they were supposed to have with the white house. and so i think this is, in some ways part of that. but in large part, i think also it's a very complicated treaty that they need to look at here. they have made some progress. they have made several over temperatures, the white house has to kyl, something like 29 or

30 meetings and briefings and memos it looks like, he is not just talking to hear himself talk. is he not talking about himself. he comes with, you know, huge caucus. he is the point person for the g.o.p. on this. and when he says it's not going to get done, i pretty much believe him. >> bret: besides senator lugar from indiana, most americans are lining up behind kyl. >> they are. i think apart from the timing there is a question of whether you want to have a serious open national debate on this, which you can't have in a day and a half or even less in a lame duck session. look, normally these arm control treatiys are useless. but now in post soviet times, it's useless 90% useless because russia is not an existential enemy. who cares if they want to waist to build inventory of nuclear weapons it makes no difference to us one way or the other there are some restrictions on what we

can do, which is r. somewhat of a liability. it's not enormous but it's significant. for instance, if you curtail the number of the bombers and the submarines and the launchers, you also are curtailing our capacity to use regular, nonnuclear weapons, the b-2 bomber, for example, was used in afghanistan and iraq with nonnuclear weapons. and it was extremely effective. so if you curtail it, you kind of curtail our normal capacity. and on the issue of interrelationship with defensive weapons, which the russians insist on in the preamble, and which we ought to reject and do reject, it's still in the treaty in the preamble and the russians will insist on it so i think it's 90% useless, 10% a liability. let's have a debate about this and let's hear what's wrong with the treaty. >> bret: quickly, is this president obama overreaching before he was counting heads back on capitol hill in the senate or is this something more than that? >> i think he wants to have a victory in something. he has had a rough month. and i'm not sure the republicans ought to give it because it

ought to be debated. >> bret: that is it for the panel. student for the results of a backyard brawl over a tractor. could switching to geico really save you

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fret bret finally tonight, we have seen disputes on capitol hill, they can get heated in a partisan environment. we have seen they can get nasty. when it comes to battles, this one from a tv station in central kentucky seems a bit more intense. >> at least that's what harvey west moreland and his brother joseph used to think about former friends troy halt and james hill. and of all things to fight about westmoreland said punches started flying over this lawn mower. >> one thing led to another and before i knowed it there was knives and guns and everything just went haywire. >> he says his brother had a mark on his neck where a knife was